Pioneer Natural Resources Company PXD recently agreed to divest some assets in Texas to Laredo Petroleum, Inc. LPI. The deal is likely to fetch the upstream company $230 million.The deal included around 20,000 net acres located in western Glasscock County and is expected to close in the next month. The divested acres currently produce around 4,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which 59% is crude oil. Pioneer Natural will receive $160 million in cash and 959,691 Laredo common shares from the divestment.While the deal is expected to boost Laredo’s footprint in the prolific Midland Basin, it is in line with Pioneer Natural’s plan of divesting some of its non-core assets. The company is planning to divest its assets in the Delaware Basin, per Reuters. It is also expecting to generate more than $2 billion from the divestments.The recovery in commodity prices has made divestments of oil and gas assets more profitable for upstream companies. As such, Pioneer Natural expects to attract more cash from selling non-core properties. The company received the assets, which are now up for sale, from the Parsley Energy acquisition, per Reuters. The divestment program is likely to help Pioneer Natural streamline the upstream portfolio. As investors these days are putting pressure on companies to boost shareholder value rather than production, upstream companies like Pioneer Natural are focusing more on profitable resources.Cash from offloading the assets can enable it to reduce debt burden and provide its balance sheet with some breathing room. As of Jun 30, 2021, the cash balance totaled only $93 million. Long-term debt summed $6,926 million at second quarter-end, up from $3,160 million at 2020-end.Price PerformanceThe company’s shares have gained 61.4% in the past year compared with a 107.2% rise of the industry it belongs to.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchZacks Rank & Stocks to ConsiderCurrently, Pioneer Natural has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks from the energy space include Cheniere Energy, Inc. LNG and Chevron Corporation CVX, each having a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cheniere Energy’s bottom line for 2021 is pegged at $2.98 per share, indicating a massive improvement from the year-ago loss of 34 cents.The consensus estimate for Chevron’s earnings for 2021 is pegged at $6.73 per share, indicating a major improvement from the year-ago loss of 20 cents. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2021. Previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Chevron Corporation (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD): Free Stock Analysis Report Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG): Free Stock Analysis Report Laredo Petroleum, Inc. (LPI): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research